My All-Time Favourite Tampa Bay Lightning Players, 2025 Edition

Welcome back. All right, so time to look at my favorite members of the Tampa Bay Lightning during their existence. And it’s interesting because over the last 5 years, things have really changed. Uh when I did my first playlist of my favorite players, uh that was during March/Appril of 2020 where yeah, there there wasn’t hockey going on. Um so I feel like updating the list, it’s a good time to do it now. Probably in better spirits now than I was 5 years ago. And not only that, but things have really changed for Tampa, haven’t they? Back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. Now, a lot of fans say, “Well, those are back to back. Those those cups don’t count.” I wonder if their team had won the Stanley Cup if they would say that it counts. I think they would. So, that being said, uh let’s go ahead and jump in with number 20. Um forward who was very good during his time in Tampa, Tyler Johnson. uh Tyler Johnson who retired not too long ago. U a player that I liked quite a bit when he played in Tampa. I think I had him on my list of favorite players the last time out and so yeah, he’s he’s on the list at this point and just barely. So if I do this again in 5 years, Johnson may very well be off the list unless there’s somebody else I drop off the list for whatever reason. But at this point, Tyler Johnson number 20. Uh number 19. So, going back to early on in Tampa’s existence, Pavle Kubina, uh, defenseman, good defenseman, solid offensive defenseman as well, and played pretty darn well for Tampa. I was there for a while and one of my favorite players while he was playing with them. Is number 19 on the list. There you go. Uh, number 18, another defenseman. This is two forwards to go with one defenseman so far. Dan Bole. Uh Dan Bole was in Tampa for a while. Um excellent defenseman and I think he was underrated. I do. I think he was an underrated defenseman. Um so I give him the number 18 spot. I don’t really have a whole lot to add with Dan Bole other than I think he was an underrated offensive defenseman. So uh there’s that. And yeah um definitely played for the Lightning. He’s on the board at 18 uh 17. So, one of my favorite players in Ottawa gets traded to uh Tampa. Uh did not make my list of favorite Ottawa players that I did uh previous, but Nick Paul makes it onto the list for Tampa. Uh I was very happy for Nick Paul to go to Tampa cuz he got a chance to show what he could do. And I do feel like when you play in Ottawa, uh that you don’t get as much attention as you will playing most other places. Ottawa, for whatever reason, does get overlooked. And when Nick Paul got to Tampa, uh, he got himself paid and he played pretty well. So, uh, Nick Paul continues to be a, uh, when we talk about Swiss Army knife players who can play up and down the lineup, Nick Paul is one of the examples of that. So, he’s number 17 on the list. Number 16, we talk about dynasties, we talk about the possibility of Florida getting a three repeat. Pat Maroon, he got a three repeat. Now, he did win his first Stanley Cup in St. Louis and then he won two in a row in Tampa. But that’s three straight Stanley Cups. So Pat Maroon, the one-man dynasty is on the board. Um, honestly, Pat Maroon was a really good story. Uh, fourth liner. And it was interesting because it felt like Pat Maroon was more prominent earlier in his career and yet uh played some of his best hockey after arriving uh in Tampa in his role. I thought he played very well. uh not the fastest player on the ice, definitely not the most skilled, but a hard worker, and uh that work ethic uh helped get him three straight Stanley Cup ranks. Also helps to be on a certain team when you win those Stanley Cups, but hey, congratulations to Pat Maroon for that. Number 15, goalender. I did see people asking about uh Darren Poopa on the Buffalo video. Um, for me, Darren Poopa, I was a fan of his most when he was with Tampa early on in their existence. He gave them good goalending early on. And he was an underrated goalender. I will admit Darren Poopa was an underrated goalender. I think it was that he wasn’t like a a top level goalender for that often or that often. I feel like I need to do a career video on Darren Poopa. Just talking about it here. Does feel like I might need to do a career video on Darren Poopa. So, um, I’ll take a look at that. I don’t think I’ve done one before and if I have, well, I’ll just repost that to the community page. But, uh, Darren Poopa, number 15 on the list. Uh, number 14, and I have forgotten before that I’ve done a career video and then done a second version of the same career. Yeah. Anyways, um, not all that proud of that. Uh, number 14, always check to see if you’ve already done that content. Uh Alex Khorn uh Kornne of course currently uh in Anaheim got paid pretty well to go to Anaheim but good goal scorer 20 to 30 goal scorer and goals at key times for Alex Khorn. Uh his luck did seemingly change towards the end of his time in Tampa but yeah he had some very good luck as well during his time in Tampa at certain points and I did like his play a lot. So he’s number 14 on the list. Number 13. This is the third time I’ve written this name on a board in like a week. Uh Ryan Mcdana, um he does a little bit of everything. He’s a very good defensive defenseman. He is a leader. Um going into the final year of his contract in Tampa. We’ll see if he extends. I would not be surprised to see him do so. Uh and Mcdana’s $6.75 million cap hit is not awful. It’s not awful considering what he does for this team on the blue line and when that’s the worst contract you can find on a team that’s that says they’re doing pretty well. So Tampa uh Mcdana being back in Tampa from his time in Nashville I think benefited them this past season and it should this upcoming season as well. Uh number 12. It’s weird writing the the full name of of some of these players because to me it’s Vinnie Lavalier, but yeah, Vincent Lavlier is his full name. Uh this is a Lavablier jersey. I always thought it was weird, too, that he was a forward wearing the number four. You don’t often see that. Uh Taylor Hall did it as well, but it is rare to see a forward wearing the number four. That’s traditionally been a defenseman’s number. So, La Cavalier, uh really excellent player, good leader. um before he joined the NHL, I do remember the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning saying, “This is our Michael Jordan.” and thinking, “Oh gosh, he can’t live up to that. That’s that’s not right.” Um but the owner, his his enthusiasm wasn’t entirely misplaced in that Glavier went on to have a good career and they won a Stanley Cup in ‘ 04. Uh number 11 on the list, another goalender the Boolan wall. Uh Nikolai Habib Bullan or as Don Taylor used to say, uh he stops it with his left habby and his right Bullan, I think is how he pron how he said it. You’d have to ask him, but yeah, Habib Bullan, that’s how I remember was Don Taylor talking about him. And Nikolai was I would say also an underrated goalender at his peak in the National Hockey League. I do think that definitely there are times that a goalender plays on a really good team and people will say, “Well, yeah, he gets wins and he has good stats, but look at the team in front of him.” Uh, we still do that now. I think advanced stats have helped to silence some of that, but uh, Abby Bulan was a very good goalender at his peak. So, there you go. Number 11. So, we move into the top 10. And for me anyways, this current member of the team, is this the first current member? Nope. No. McDonald’s on the list, too. How could I forget the Oh, man. I need sleep. Uh Braden Point, uh Braden Point, gifted goalcorer. Um a very good all-around player really for Tampa and part of the Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021 as well. Uh I think there’s some leadership there. There’s there’s definitely um a lot of respect given to him around the National Hockey League. He is seen as an excellent player. And I I can’t recall Tampa Bay fans ever really complaining about Braden Point. Like having a YouTube channel with as many comments as I see all the time. Braden Point, even when Tampa loses, I can’t recall seeing negativity directed his way. Uh number nine. So I like this player a lot in Chicago. I don’t know if he’s going to make the list for Chicago, though. Like I said, I I don’t like to have to use the same players twice. I know I have, but I don’t like to. And to me, Brandon Hegel’s play in Tampa has been next level. He was very good in Chicago. I I could see that potential. I think Chicago knew he had that potential. Um, and he gets moved to Tampa and Brandon Hankle’s been excellent for Tampa. So, um, yeah, I think that contract has aged very, very well. It’s a bargain, as a lot of contracts in Tampa are. I think that’s more of a reflection of when those contracts are signed and by whom. uh players are willing to pay play for less in Tampa, not just because of the whole taxes thing, but because Tampa is a team that wins and players traditionally will take a little less money to play on a team that wins. Uh Boston had that going for them. Pittsburgh had that going for them and still sort of does if you look at some of those contracts. And Brendan Hegel is a sign that Tampa has that going for them. Now, number eight. I know for a lot of t a lot of Tampa fans that watch Brad Richards play, he’d be their favorite. Uh for me, Brad Richards comes in eighth. Uh he was part of that 2004 Stanley Cup team as well. Uh Richards really good player. It’s a shame he didn’t play his whole career in Tampa to be honest. Uh he played played for the Rangers. He played for Dallas. Um I’m trying to think. I think he played for Chicago as well. But yeah, Richards, excellent during his time in Tampa. And you know, Richards and Lavalier, that was a pretty good one-two punch for Tampa up front. Uh, number seven, a current member of the team, which we’ll see a lot of current members getting on the list here. Anthony Celli. Uh, Celli, excellent two-way forward. Uh, because of the fact that he shares a state with Bararkov, I think he gets a little bit less attention. Everybody always talks about how underrated Bararkov is, but Bararkov overshadows everybody when it comes to two-way forwards right now in the game. So, I I I think Celli might be mildly underrated at this point in time. Uh, but Celli has the ability. He also has some good offense to his game, which if you’re going to be a really good two-way forward, you have to have that offensive aspect as well. And Sireelli is just a really good all-around player. Doesn’t take a shift off. Uh, number six on the list. So, I mentioned how Braden Point doesn’t get criticized when Tampa loses in the playoffs and Cucharov does, but Cucharov Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. Um, some would say infamously in one of those Stanley Cup options, but we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about the player and Nikita Cucharov. Yes, at times he crosses the line and he does something that makes fans angry and might get him suspended, but there’s an intensity to Cucharov’s game. And when a player is intense like that, there are going to be moments where they lose their cool. And um I’m not making an excuse for that. I’m just saying that in my time watching hockey, when players are intense like that, you’re going to have those moments where they lose their cool and they might do something that leads to them getting uh getting told they have the next night off. Uh Cucharov though doesn’t really cross the line as much as I think some people make it sound like he does. Like I I I understand that it happens, but I don’t think it’s that that often. And so, he’s number six on the board. If I feel like a player is a really dirty player, they’re not going to be very high on any of these lists. So, there are players I’ve seen people asking about were like, “Where’s this guy?” And I’m thinking, I he would not be on the list. Uh because of the way he played the game, he would not be on the list. Uh, number five. So, Steven Stamos, I thought proved what an emotional leader he was to the team during that Stanley Cup run where he played one shift. And he dressed for the game. He played one shift. He didn’t play the rest of the game. He stayed on the bench. He stayed at the He stayed there. He didn’t leave the game, but he didn’t play. And yet I felt like that emotional boost it gave Tampa is part of the reason they won the Stanley Cup. Um I believe that was 2020, right? And then 2021 he was more of a an on ice performer for that Stanley Cup run. So while some would look at that 2020 Stanley Cup and I know there’s other issues people take with it have with it, but um I thought Stamp Coast was a good leader and kind of an inspiration to that Stanley Cup because he wasn’t able to play, but he tried. He did. he tried to play even though he probably shouldn’t have. Uh number four on the list, a player that if you’re not familiar with him, I have no problem talking about him right now. Uh when Tampa started up in the National Hockey League, they got Brian Bradley from Vancouver. I was very upset about this. Uh Bradley went on to record a ton of points for Tampa Bay, a team that wasn’t necessarily very good at the time, but Bradley was a very good top six forward. And this was part of my frustration with Vancouver was that I thought Bradley deserved a little bit better fate than what he got. But I was happy for him to go to Tampa and get that opportunity and show that he could be a top six forward in the NHL. Uh hardworking, never took anything for granted that I saw and was a big lynch pin for them up front early on in their existence. Uh number three on the list and I didn’t rank them last time. You know, that’s the funny thing. That’s how things can change over five years. And that’s Andre Vasalevki. And where Vaselvki won me over was the 2019 award show. I’m I’m surprised they didn’t have him on the 2020 list. Get 2020 THG in this room right now. I’m going to have a word with him. Uh Vaselvki basically willed that team to Stanley Cups. I I really believe that a big part of why Tampa Bay wins those backto-back cups is the way that the 2019 award show was conducted where Tampa was the butt of the jokes. They set they set a record for wins and points that year and couldn’t win when they needed to in the playoffs. They got swept in the first round. Everybody made a joke of it. Vasilki did not. He never once cracked a smile during that award show. Um there were comments made about Tampa throughout. And every time they showed him, he wasn’t laughing. Why would he? You want to laugh about your team choking in the playoffs? He didn’t. And and the best part of it being then he went out and he helped them win the Stanley Cup. So, uh, nothing but respect for Vasalvki. I guess when I recorded that video 5 years ago, they hadn’t won the Stanley Cup yet. So, I will forgive me from 5 years ago for that. Just like I’ll forgive me 30 seconds ago for dropping this marker. Number two, I still believe that Victor Hedman should have more Norris trophies. I’m bewildered that he doesn’t have more more Norris trophies. In fact, I think that’s an example of just how many good defenseman there are in in the NHL that it feels like Hedman generations before would have won multiple Norris trophies, but I believe he just has the one. And I think he was the best defenseman in the league for about a five or six year run there, he is still one of the best defenseman in the league. But because we kind of take it for granted, he doesn’t get as much attention. I I really don’t think his play has fallen off that much. He’s not the same as he was, but I don’t think he’s fallen off that much. And in a big game, if you could throw Headman on the ice with a with a lead with two minutes left, I think you’re in pretty good shape. Which brings us to number one. And this won’t really surprise people cuz it it does tick off a lot of boxes for me. Uh Marty San Louie was told he was too small to play. That is a a big uh factor for me when picking favorite players. the guys who are told they’re too small. I feel that. Um I’ve been told I’m I’m too small for certain jobs I’ve had. Um my height’s been used against me in in in school and and at like I said at work and whatnot. And so when hockey players are able to fight through that and show what they can do and Marty San Louie finally did get that opportunity with Tampa, he knocked it out of the park. And during his time in Tampa, I I just absolutely love the guy and to this day, he is my favorite Tampa Bay Lightning player that they’ve had uh during their existence in the National Hockey League. Just really those are the kinds of players that for other undersized hockey players that are in junior, maybe they’re getting overlooked or they’re playing on a third line when they know that they have the skill to be on the first line. You you can look at guys like San Louie or right now a good example would be Caulfield in Montreal and you can say, you know what, they did it. I’m I’m gonna I’m gonna try. I’m going to do my best and maybe I can be the next um player of smaller stature who’s able to to play really really well in the NHL. So, uh kudos to Marty San Louie for being a bit of a an inspiration for young smaller players and just smaller players in particular. So, there you go. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. As always, hit like and subscribe in the event you may not have done so already. Thank you guys so much for all your support. As always, I will talk to you again soon.

The Bolts have won two Cups since I last made a video on this topic which changes things a bit.

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